Six Seacoast New Hampshire Beaches Have Poop in the Water

Since you are here, I am guessing you feel concerned about swimming in the ocean with the current fecal matter advisories that are in place. You are wondering what local bodies of water you need to avoid and I don't blame you! The idea of submerging in the ocean and ingesting another human's excrement is enough for me to toss my cookies here and now.

Note from the author: Though I am a fully-cooked adult, I have the same sense of humor as a 10-year-old boy. I want to point out the self restraint it is taking to use words like "excrement" and not make tons of poop jokes right now. But let's get back to this code brown situation.

The fact that six of our beaches are contaminated with fecal matter might sound alarming, but it's not as uncommon as you might think.

How common is it to find fecal matter in ocean water?

According to a study by Environment America, fecal matter can be found in over half of our beaches in America, with limits that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's standards. This means the level of contaminated water could make you sick if you swim in it.

What causes fecal matter in the ocean water?

Fecal matter in the ocean can happen for a multitude of reasons. The most common reasons are malfunctioning sewage treatment plants, septic systems that are not maintained properly, sewage from recreational boaters, rainwater runoff carrying pet and other animal waste, and, perhaps most alarmingly, people just pooping in the ocean.

If you thought that sharks were the scariest threat at the beach, you were wrong. It's other people's poop!

Someone shared the map below to the New Hampshire Subreddit, which shows that six beaches on New Hampshire's Seacoast have fecal bacteria advisories.

The Seacoast beaches that were reported between 8/20-8/22 are:

North Hampton State Park Beach (8/21), Jenness Beach State Park (8/20), Wallis Sands State Park (8/20), New Castle Town Beach (8/20), Pirates Cove Beach (8/20), and Cable Beach in Kittery, Maine (8/20).

Once fecal matter is reported in the ocean, when is it safe to swim again?

This all depends on when the test results come back clear and bacteria levels show below EPA standards.  Lab results for all beach samples takes approximately 24 hours, so it is common for a beach closure to last a day or two following an exceedance.

Keep an eye on this Healthy Swimming Mapper for the most up-to-date information as you are planning your beach days for the remainder of the summer.

And if you want to do your part in keeping our beaches safe and clean here on the Seacoast of New Hampshire, follow the Surfrider Foundation New Hampshire chapter and join their next beach cleanup. We can't complain about the problem unless we are part of the solution, right? Stay safe out there, swimmers!